by Hummam Sheikh Ali
HASAKAH, Syria, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- For seven years, a tent had been home for Fatima Obeid and her family. On Tuesday, she folded clothes into a suitcase and helped her daughters pack a truck, preparing to take that same tent on another journey -- this time, their real home.
But the home that awaits them may be little more than a pile of rubble.
"We know our homes are destroyed and there is nothing there," Obeid told Xinhua. "So we will take our tents with us and put them up where our homes were. We will live in them temporarily until we can work and rebuild what was destroyed."
Obeid's family is among 689 displaced families leaving camps in northeastern Hasakah province, part of the second organized convoy to return residents to Ras al-Ain and the surrounding areas after nearly seven years in displacement.
Across the camps of al-Tala'ie and al-Twaina, trucks were piled high with mattresses, carpets, water containers, furniture and clothes accumulated over years of displacement. Children moved between the tents and vehicles, some smiling and waving, as adults dismantled the temporary homes they had lived in for years.
For Obeid, the final days in the camp were marked more by anticipation than uncertainty.
"These final moments are filled with joy and happiness for us after all the suffering we have been through," she said, adding that her family had barely slept for two days from the excitement and preparations for the return.
The families fled Ras al-Ain and its countryside during the fighting in northeastern Syria in 2019. Their return, however, is gradual, as security conditions shift and areas are cleared of mines and other war remnants.
Nearby, Munir Ibrahim al-Mohammad, a man in his 70s, sat beside his tent after packing his belongings. Dust on his hands, he watched as his wife and children loaded the family's possessions onto a truck.
"Life here was extremely difficult," he said. "We lived through heat, cold, and rain, amid dirt, dust, and storms. That is camp life, with all its hardship and suffering."
Yet the family will not leave the tent behind.
Al-Mohammad said his house had been completely destroyed, leaving the tent to become their home once again, only this time, on their own land.
"We will take this tent and set it up temporarily where our house once stood, and we will start again," he said. "We hope organizations and the relevant authorities will support us so that we can rebuild our homes and begin a new life."
The return from Hasakah comes amid a broader movement of displaced Syrians back to their communities. Data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees showed that nearly 2 million internally displaced Syrians had returned to their areas of origin or other locations by July.
But large-scale returns are taking place against a backdrop of damaged housing and infrastructure, strained services and limited livelihood opportunities.
For Abdel Fattah Rdeini, a man in his 60s preparing to leave the camp with his grandchildren, those challenges are deeply personal.
Sitting on a mattress beside his tent, Rdeini laughed with his grandchildren and told them they were finally going home. But his expression changed as he recalled the land, house and possessions he had left behind.
"When I remember the past, I cry. I swear, I cry deeply," he said. "I left behind my land, my house and everything I owned, and now I have nothing left."
"I will start from zero," he continued. "Imagine someone who lived for 50 or 60 years, then lost everything he owned and had to begin again."
Zahra Samou, spokesperson for a committee of displaced Ras al-Ain residents, said the 689 families would face major hardships back in areas scarred by years of destruction.
For many, then, Tuesday's journey could mark the end of displacement, but not the end of hardship.
Around the camp, families were still dismantling tents, tying mattresses and carpets to trucks, and gathering their children and possessions for departure.
For Obeid, what awaited at the other end mattered less than finally being able to return.
"We are going back to our homeland, and we are extremely happy," she said.
